EUFOR’s Operation Commander, General Sir Adrian Bradshaw, and the Ambassadors of the EU Political and Security Committee (PSC) today visited ‘Krupa’ Sarajevo-Hadžići ammunition storage site. The PSC delegation and General Bradshaw were accompanied by Commander EUFOR, Major General Dieter Heidecker. The delegation was welcomed at the site by the Minister of Defence of BiH, Mr Zekerijah Osmić.

EUFOR’s Operation Commander, General Sir Adrian Bradshaw, today visited EUFOR Headquarters with the Ambassadors of the EU Political and Security Committee (PSC). The PSC Ambassadors are in BiH this week to visit EU institutions in Sarajevo. General Bradshaw is also carrying out a 3 day visit to attend a number of the PSC meetings and to undertake additional working visits in his role as EUFOR’s Operation Commander.

After two years leading the European Forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Commander EUFOR, Major General Dieter Heidecker, will end his tour of duty on the 17th December this year. The European Political Security Committee appointed General Heidecker on the 3rd December 2012 and extended his deployment in 2013 for a further year. The official Handover and Takeover Ceremony will take place at Camp Butmir.

On 16th November 2014, the Hungarian Minister of Defence, Dr. Csaba Hende, visited Camp Butmir, Sarajevo, to meet EUFOR’s Hungarian contingent who are serving in Operation Althea. During his visit, Dr. Hende took the opportunity to award the Commander of EUFOR, Major General Dieter Heidecker, with the ‘Honours for the Alliance’ service medal.

A multinational ceremony of remembrance was held today at EUFOR Headquarters to commemorate the fallen men and women of all nations. The ceremony was attended by Ambassador Ferguson from the British Embassy, and EUFOR’s Commander, Major General Dieter Heidecker, and NHQSa Commander, Brigadier General Christopher Petty. Numerous EUFOR and NHQSa personnel, both civilian and military, also attended to show their respect to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

EUFOR today held a conference with senior members of AFBiH to present future steps for their capacity building and training programme. The conference was attended by Lieutenant General Anto Jeleč, Chief of the Joint Staff of AFBiH, and was chaired by Major General Dieter Heidecker, Commander EUFOR. The purpose of the conference was to present the results of last week’s training assessment conference in order to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the current training programme. Additionally, further areas of cooperation between EUFOR and AFBiH were discussed.

The Austrian Chief of Defence Staff, General Othmar Commenda, has conducted a two day visit to EUFOR. General Commenda was welcomed at Camp Butmir on Wednesday by a guard of honour before meeting with Commander EUFOR, Major General Dieter Heidecker, to gain an update on the political situation in BiH and the Austrian contribution to the EUFOR mission. General Commenda then attended a meeting with the Chief of the Joint Staff of Armed Forces BiH, Lieutenant General Anto Jeleč, together with Lieutenant General Jeleč’s senior leadership team.

EUFOR has hosted a conference to assess the capacity building and training requirements of AFBiH at Camp Butmir, Sarajevo.EUFOR’s Chief of Staff, Brigadier General András Szűcs, delivered a welcome address to the conference attendees, who included senior personnel from EUFOR and AFBiH, along with representatives from NATO and EU organisations.

EUFOR HQ has held a 2-day meeting for engineering experts from AFBiH and EUFOR, with the primary aim of devising next year’s training activities. Attendees at the meeting, the ninth of its kind, also discussed lessons identified from activities already carried out this year, including the flood-related disaster relief. They then developed and approved the engineering training calendar for 2015.

Soldiers from Armed Forces BiH have completed an ammunition training course this week which was held at Travnik barracks. The course, which was led by a EUFOR mobile training team from Austria, lasted for 4 weeks. The purpose was to educate the soldiers about a wide range of ammunition-related topics, including labelling, storage, packaging and safe transportation of ammunition.

EUFOR has provided two major training courses at Camp Butmir, Sarajevo, this week, instructing Armed Forces BiH (AF BiH) personnel and members of the Mostar and Zenica Mountain Rescue Teams.The AF BiH personnel underwent a 7 day training course to rescue injured personnel from minefields. The course began with theoretical training in the classroom, before the students conducted practical exercises, firstly using a crane to simulate airborne access to the minefield, and then using an AF BiH Mi-8 helicopter.